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IN
THEUNITEDSTATESDISTRICTCOURT
FORTIlE
EASTERNDISTRICT
OF
PENNSYLVANIA
PHILIP
J.
BERG,
CIVIL
ACTION
v.
NO.
08·4083
BARACK
OBAMA,
et
aI.
SURRICK,J.
MEMORANDUM
&
ORDER
OCTOBER
c L ~
2008
Presently
before
the
Court
are
the
Motion
of
DefendantDemocraticNationalCommittee
and
Senator
Barack
Obama
to
DismissFirst
Amended
Complaint
(Doc.
No.
20)and
the
Defendant
Federal
ElectionCommission's
Motion
to
Dismiss
forLack
of
SubjectMatterJurisdiction
(Doc.No.
24).
For
thefollowing
reasons,
the
Defendants'
Motions
to
Dismisswill
begranted.
I.
BACKGROUND
A.
ProceduralHistory
Philip
J.
Berg
(hereinafter"Plaintiff')
isan
attorney
who
is
representinghimself
in
thismatter.
On
August
21,
2008,
justprior
to
the
DemocraticNational
Convention,
Plaintiff
filed
aComplaint
for
Declaratory
and
InjunctiveRelief
(Doc.
No.1)
and
a
Motion
ForTemporaryRestrainingOrder
and
for
Expedited
Discovery
(Doc.
No.2"TRO")against
BarackOhama
("Ohama"),
the
DemocraticNationalCommittee("DNC"),
the
Federal
ElectionCommission
("FEe"),
and
Does
1-50
Inclusive.
The
Complaint
and
request
for
TRO
alleged
thatObama
is
noteligible
to
run
for
the
Office
of
President
of
theUnited
Statesbecause
he
is
not
 
:"
a"natural
born
citizen"
as
required
by
Article
II,
Section
1,
Clause4
of
theUnitedStates
Constitution
(the
"Natural
Born
CitizenClause").Plaintiffsoughta
TRO
prohibiting
Obamafrom
running
for
President
and
enjoining
theDNCfrom
selecting
Obama
as
thenominee.
Plaintiff
alsosought
declaratory
and
injunctiverelief
inthe
form
of
adeclarationthat
Obama
is
ineligible
to
run
for
the
office
of
Presidentunder
the
UnitedStates
ConstiUltion
and
apermanent'injunctionenjoining
Obama
from
running
for
President
and
enjoining
the
ONe
from
making
ObamatheDemocraticpresidential
nominee.
.,
On
August22,2008,
ahearing
was
held
on
PlaintiffsMotion
for
Temporary
Restraining
Order.
I
Atthe
conclusion
of
the
hearing
an
Order
was
entered
denying
the
Motion.
(Doc.
No.
4.)
On
September
9,
2008,
service
of
thesummons
and
Complaint
was
made
onDefendants'BarackObama
and
the
DNC.
(Doc.
No.7.)
On
September12,2008,service
wasmadeon
Defendant
FEC.(Doc.
No.9.)
On
September
24,2008,
aMotion
to
Dismiss
was
filed
by
BarackObama
and
the
DNC.(Doc.
No.
12.)
PlaintiffsResponse
in
Opposition
to
theMotion
to
Dismiss
wasfiledon
September
29,
2008.(Doc.
No.13.)
On
October
6,2008,
Plaintifffileda
Motion
forLeaveto
FileaFirst
AmendedComplaint.(Doc.
No.14.)
PlaintiffsFirst
Amended
Complaint
for
Declaratory
and
lnjunctiveRelief
("Amended
Complaint")
was
attached
to
the
Motion.
(Doc.
No.
14-2.)2
In
addition
to
DefendantsBarack
Obama,the
ONe,
and
the
1
Defendantswerenot
represented
at
the
hearing.
Plaintiffadvisedthe
Court
that
hehadfaxed
a
copy
of
the
Complaint
and
Motion
for
Temporary
RestrainingOrder
as
wellas
notice
of
thehearing
to
Defendants,butthat
he
could
notconfirm
thatthey
hadbeenreceived
by
Defendants.(Hr'g.
Exs.
P-I,
P-2,
&
P-9.)
2
Federal
Rule
of
CivilProcedure
15(a)
providesthat"aparty
may
amend
its
pleadingonce
as
amatterofcourse
...
beforebeing
served
witharesponsivepleading."Amotion
to
2
 
FEC,
Plaintiffs
AmendedComplaintincludesthefollowingDefendants:theSecretary
of
theCommonwealth
of
PennsylvaniaDepartment
of
State,Pedro
A.
Cortes;Secretary
of
theCommonwealthinhisOfficialCapacity;DianeFeinstein,Chairman
of
the
u.s.
SenateCommission
on
RulesandAdministrationinherOfficialCapacity;U.S.SenateCommission
on
'.
RulesandAdministration;andDoes
I-SO
Inclusive.)OnOctober20,2008,aMotion
of
DefendantDemocraticNationalCommitteeandSenatorBarackObamatoDismissFirstAmendedComplaintwasfiled.(Doc.No.20.)OnOctober
21,2008
DefendantFederalElectionCommission'sMotiontoDismissforLack
of
SubjectMatterJurisdictionPursuanttoFederalRule
of
CivilProcedure12(b)(J)wasfiled.(Doc.No.24.)TheAmendedComplaintaddsclaimsthatwerenotincludedintheoriginalComplaint.
In
additiontotheclaimthatObamaisnota"naturalborncitizen"andisthereforenoteligibletobePresident,PlaintiffallegesthattheDefendantshavedeprivedhim
of
hisrightsinviolation
of
42U.S.C.
§
1983,42U.S.C.
§
1985,and42U.S.C.
§
1986(CountsTwo,Three,
&
Four).TheAmendedComplaintalsoaddsaClaimforPromissoryEstoppel(CountSeven)andincludes'c1aimsforviolation
of
theFederalElectionCampaignAct("CampaignAct"),2U.S.C.
§
437(CountFive),violation
of
theFreedomofInformationAct("FOIA"),5U.S.C.
§
552(CountSix),andaClaim
of
Loss
of
Nationalityunder8U.S.c.
§
1481(b)(CountEight).'dismissisnotaresponsivepleading.Themotionseekingleavetoamendwasunnecessary.TheAmendedComplaintisdeemedfiled.)
As
of
thisdate,thereisnoindicationinthisrecordthatany
of
thesenewlyaddedDefendantshavebeenserved.
4
TheclaimsinCountsFive,SixandEightwerenotincludedasclaimsinPlaintiffsoriginalComplaint;however,theydidappearin
Plaintiffs
brief
in
oppositiontotheMotiontoDismiss(Doc.No.13)asargumentsinsupport
of
Plaintiffsstandingtobringthislawsuit.
3
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. ~
..
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of 00

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